Help Is my Android infected with spyware? How do I find out?

[Helna Gomez]

I've recently been thinking about all the ways my phone is vulnerable now that it is rooted (I root most my phones) so I was wondering if there was any sure indication or sign that the android system would prompt if it was hacked by spyware.

 

[Rebekkah Jayson]

Hi! There are a few ways to ascertain if your device has been targeted. Are you noticing any battery drain issues or more-than-usual data use? Also, check to see if you have any monitoring apps (Fexispy, Xnspy, TeamViewer, etc.) These can be removed and can be the cause for any inconsistencies you might be noticing in everyday device behavior.

 

[mikedt]

I've recently been thinking about all the ways my phone is vulnerable now that it is rooted (I root most my phones) so I was wondering if there was any sure indication or sign that the android system would prompt if it was hacked by spyware.

How did you root it, and did you flash a custom ROM from a trusted source? And assuming you haven't installed any yourself via any nefarious apps, then it should be clean.

If you rooted via vulnerability exploit rooting tool, e.g. KingRoot, then it very probably isn't spyware free. Although that's only for phones and tablets running old Android versions, prior to Android 6 or 7.

 

[svim]

Whenever you root any Android device this allows you, the user, more access to the inner workings of the installed Android operating system. But it's really important to always keep in mind this also opens up more access to unwanted exploits and compromises. You are in essence intentionally making your Android device more vulnerable by rooting it once you remove the protective measures a non-rooted device has implemented by default. A lot of people falsely tout rooting as a magic fix for everything, but ignore the fact that all maintenance and upkeep at that point becomes your responsibility.

 

[Hadron]

A lot of people falsely tout rooting as a magic fix for everything, but ignore the fact that all maintenance and upkeep at that point becomes your responsibility.

Yup, as Spiderman would say, "with great power comes great responsibility"

 

[ocnbrze]

one good thing is that if there is any spyware installed, you should have a custom recovery like twrp. you can always just wipe extremely thoroughly and either restore a nandroid backup or just flash a custom rom. if you wipe correctly, the spyware should get deleted and thus problem solved.

but yes, as others suggested rooting makes your phone more vulnerable.

 

[ocnbrze]

Since you will not receive month security patch update on phone then try getting some paid antivirus tools but it will make the phone slow.

anti virus apps are worthless on android. there are no viruses in android......malware, yes......viruses, no.

just be smart on what you install on your device and you should be fine. but the op has a rooted phone which makes it vulnerable to malware apps. but again, as long as you are careful on what you install on your device, it should be fine.